



Volume 1 Issue 32 November 13, 2007
Snake Handling Church -- Is God there? We were
the following is a story about a snake handling church somewhere in clay county. it was reported as if someone from the clay county times actually went to the church and sat in on a serpent handling event. after reading the following information you decide for yourself what really happen.
(story printed as written in the clay county We at the Times will go anywhere there is a story. Recently a lady at London was bitten and died from a snakebite wound during church services. The church practiced serpent handling. We wondered what that really meant and wondered if we have churches in Clay County that held this practice. So we went hunting and discovered a small church in the Bright Shade community. We asked the preacher if we could talk to him and watch a service. He had no problem with this; he just didn't want the church name to be mention. So one Sunday we went to watch the service and interview him. We felt welcomed there and had a great time, until the snakes came out. I was terrified. But after the service we sat down and talked with the pastor.
For serpent-handling churches, the verses in the bible hold no debate-they are the literal words of the Lord that have inspired worshiping believers to handle poisonous snakes for a hundred years. Serpent handling is always controversial, yet it shows no signs of disappearing from its traditional home in Appalachia, Junior G. Minton is a serpent-handling pastor from Bright Shade. He explains that, for him, handling snakes is simply following the gospel to the letter. "Other folks don't do this this because their churches don't believe, or it's just something they're scared of," he said. "They come to that scripture but want to jump over that part because it's a deadly thing."
The practice began in the early 1900's. Its popularity has grown through the years. Serpent handling is currently at fairly low popularity. Such fluctuations are characteristic of faith that persists throughout Appalachia. The perception that communities that practice serpent handling church services are poor, isolated rural areas is simply no longer accurate. "Historically that's where it emerged, but that's no longer the case," said Minton. "Some of these churches are near cities like Atlanta, Georgia, or Middlesboro, Kentucky - and the middle Appalachian region itself is less rural than it used to be. Serpent handling is no longer restricted to miners." While a number of churches with small congregations around a dozen members survive throughout the heart of Appalachia, the faith is also practiced in adjacent states of Ohio and Tennessee.
Can they get new people we wondered? Churches survive and grow by not attracting new mwmbers, but because of enduring family traditions. "Serpent handling is maintained through powerful families whose children have carried on that tradition for up to four generations," Minton said. "There are a small number of converts, but they generally maintain themselves through these families, and by people marrying into tradition."
While Junior Minton's grandparents handled serpents, he said he came to the practice later, after a religious awakening that included baptism. "I prayed for this, for God to give me the sign to do this because it was in the scriptures," he said. "I don't want to get out of it. Churches that practice serpent handling tend to be aware of being different from others. This desire for privacy stems, in large part, from negative attention that inevitably follows the practice after deaths due to snakebite occur.
"There are over 100 documented deaths from serpent bites," said Minton. "In every tradition, people are bitten and killed by them. They risk their lives all the time by handling them. If you go to any serpent-handling church, you'll see people with atrophied hands, and missing fingers. All the serpent-handling families have suffered such things." "It's a misconception that these people believe they won't get hurt," Minton explains. "The Bible says to take up serpents, not that they won't be bitten. If they're bit, that's up to God. The issue is obedience to God. There's no magic stuff. They know the reality of it because so many families have had people hurt and killed."
Junior Minton has seen many serpent-handling bites, and experienced them himself. None of those experiences have deterred him from answering his calling. "Some people were bit, and I believe God was ready for them and their time had come," he said. "I was bit 21 times, by rattlesnakes, copperheads, twice by a water moccasins, and I never used anti venom-all I had was just Jesus. I've been bitten badly, but I'll go back the next week and take them out again." What is it that inspires these worshipers to handle poisonous snakes? Like other Christian fundamentalists, serpent handlers' beliefs are rooted in a literal interpretation of the scriptures.
These activities don't dominate services, but play a limited role within more traditional worship. "In almost all serpent-handling churches, they don't handle them all the time. They usually don't even handle them every Sunday," Minton explained. But those anointed by the Holy Spirit answer the calling by taking up the deadly reptiles or by drinking poisons. Minton said: "Only certain individuals commonly handle serpents, and it goes with out saying that they warn people; "If you're not directed by the Holy Ghost to do this, you'd better not.'" While few outsiders are drawn to the dangerous and controversial practice, Junior Minton predicts that its future is assured. "Since the beginning people have been predicting that it will disappear, but as long as there is Appalachia there will be handlers," he explained. "It's an integral part of Appalachian tradition and it's not going to fade away.
sounds like a great story doesn't it? so let's look further into the story to see if it is the TRUTH of a made up LIE about a church in Clay County told to the citizens of the community.
Here is the TRUTH--
Junior McCormick has seen many serpent-handling bites, and experienced them himself. None of those experiences have deterred him from answering his calling. "Some people were bit, and I believe God was ready for them and their time had come," he said. "I was bit 14 times, by rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, and I never used anti venomall I had was just Jesus. I've been bitten badly, but I'll go back the next week and take them out [serpents] again."
in the Tuesday November 6,2007 Vol.1 Issue 31 edition of the Clay County Times a story appeared about the story of an abused woman. here is an excerpt at the beginning of the story as written in the Clay County Times. "First of All I would like to thank you Donnie Thompson and your staff for allowing me to write my life story. To those who know me know the struggle I went through in my life."
let's just look at the entire story printed in the newspaper from a lady who said she returned home to Manchester. here is the entire story that was published.
I was sexually abused as a young child by an uncle for several years until I was about 10 or 11. The last time he tried to rape me, I fought him off. He was hurting me. I made sure never to stay at their house again or be alone with him.

these two pictures were also a part of the slumlord story. one of them says the mobile home rented for $600 a month while the other one said the lady in the doorway had waited two years to find a HUD house. but if you look at the following information you will see that the two pictures published were also falsified and taken from other sources far away from clay county kentucky. they can be seen here and here. so after reviewing this information filled with facts and not made up material. you can determine for yourself if this bit of information supplied to you is actually the truth or just a CONSPIRACY made up by a person feeding you with false information.
when facts begin to service that certain pictures in the clay county times were being taken without permission from others. the reporter said all his pictures made it onto google. he attempted to cover up his wrong doing instead of admitting he was illegally using other people's work without their permission.
here is 2 pictures that appeared in Volume 1. Issue 37 Tuesday December 18, 2007 edition of the Clay County Times. what makes these pictures discovered to be taken by someone else is this statement from user Clay County Times on topix.net. "Also if you notice all my pictures makes it on Google search. You guys really need to try harder next time. Keep up your great search."
this picture was of a small child praying. no credit was given for the picture on the story. i guess since all the clay county Times pictures make google they took it. BUT what do we have here
it would appear that the clay county Times took this picture 2 months after the other person did and yet they are the exact picture. makes you wonder.
here is another picture in the same issue. it shows a kerosene heater. a heater of this nature is not out of the ordinary so could clay county times take this picture. could of but take a look HERE. it looks like the exact same picture is copyrighted by a person named Andy Gray.
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 16:18:51 -0700 (PDT)
To: guestbook@ghosts.org
yourname travis s potts
I am writing about an incident which occured during my brief stay in Prescott ,Az. i was in the community college at the time. One night my friend and i were walking to the local music store. it was about 9:00. The moon was out but was not full. There was enough light from the moon to see our way around though. We headed down the hill next to the dormitories and at the bottom of the hill we saw something, but what we did not know. As we got closer we saw a form appear out of nowwhere. When we reached the bottom of the hill, the light from the moon showed us a man was standing there. An indian to be exact. The man was dressed in blue jeans, a light blue shirt, and a blue jean jacket. His head rested crooked on his shoulders as though broken. His leg was bent in as though it was broken. The area at the bottom of the hill had at one time been the sight of an car accident, where a car was hit by an oncoming train, and both people inside were killed. Both peopl! ! e inside were indians. Anyway, we passed the man and he spoke one word "hello." We returned his salutation,as nervous as we were. We heard gravel being walked on behind us, and when Ilooked back no one was there. There was no where the man could have gone, without us seeing him walk away. The time between us seeing him and him disappearing was no more than ten seconds. The strangest part of the whole incident occured one year later. i was in Belgium, visiting my parents. One night i was driving a friends daughter home from girl scouts when standing on the sidewalk i was passing was the indian. His head was still crooked and his leg was still bent. Iit surprised me to see him and when i looked back, he had once again disappeared. i still have yet to find an answer to these strange incidences. There is the chance that i have seen him again in my new home area....Richmond, Va.
we have all read about the clay county times stories about a spooky haunted house on Sexton's Creek. he also said he was going to stay in the house one night. wonder if that ever happen? don't think so since the story was a lie copied form The Cicero Haunting.
here is the story in the clay county times on September 18, 2007
In February, 1998, however, that all changed.
I moved into a farm house on Sexton Creek. We were walking distant from the Joe Clark cabin. There was my fiancée Kathy, who was pregnant at the time with the first of our three children. I also have two daughters from a previous relationship. It was my youngest daughter, who was three at the time, who was the first to experience something disturbing. She had an unnatural fear of the walk-in pantry in our kitchen. Every time we would sit down to dinner, she would point at the pantry and say it was "bad." She would never go into the pantry or even walk near it. At the time, we just brushed it off as nothing - a childhood fear. I work with children and know that sometimes their little imaginations just run wild.